One of the most enjoyable pastimes for children is the use of toy automobiles which are caused to progress along a pattern of roadways. It is common practice to print such roadways on a large board, but such a board is ungainly, difficult to store, and has an invariable pattern. Attempts have been made to print parts of the roadway on separate pieces of board but, when this is done, assembling a complete set of roadways is less than desirable, because the separate boards become separated and gives an unsmooth path. Furthermore, there is difficulty in bringing about variations in the pattern of the roadway; a single layout of roadways becomes rather dull for the child, particularly when there is no way of varying the roadway to make it more interesting. Furthermore, the devices that are presently available have elements that are easily broken, which are difficult for a child to assemble and disassemble, and may contain dangerous sharp protuberances or corners. Some systems contain separate pieces for joining the parts of the board together and these pieces are easily lost. These and other difficulties experienced with the prior art devices have been obviated in a novel manner by the present invention.
It is, therefore, an outstanding object of the invention to provide a toy roadway tile which permits the formation of a large variety of patterns of roadway.
Another object of this invention is the provision of a tile for the formation of a roadway pattern, which tile is capable of being easily attached to other tiles to form a complex pattern.
A further object of the present invention is the provision of a tile for use in forming a toy roadway, wherein connecting elements are provided which are integral with the tile.
It is another object of the instant invention to provide a toy roadway tile which is simple in construction, which is inexpensive to manufacture, and which is capable of a long life of useful service.
A still further object of the invention is the provision of a tile for use in forming a toy roadway in which a number of tiles having exactly the same construction and roadway pattern can be used in various ways to complete a complex roadway pattern.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a toy roadway system consisting of a number of tiles all of which are exactly the same in the nature of their connecting means and in the pattern of their roadways.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a tile having an integral means for interconnecting it with tiles of a similar nature.
Another object of the invention is the provision of a road building toy requiring only the undeveloped physical motor skills of young children.
Another object of the invention is the provision of a toy for forming a complex roadway configuration, including a tile having connecting means that is integrally formed, so that it cannot become lost.
With these and other objects in view, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art, the invention resides in the combination of parts set forth in the specification and covered by the claims appended hereto.